September 9, 2016

Jasper Rowsey Hanged By Mob, Lincoln, 1859

Previously:

Click here for a list of my other Pulaski/Rockcastle/Laurel County KY articles

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[May 4, 1859] -

ESCAPE OF A MURDERER. -- J. L. Ruffin, Esq., Chief of Police, received a telegram yesterday morning informing him of the escape--from Milledgeville Jail, Lincoln county, Ky.,--of Jasper Rouser, a person held in custody under a charge of murder. A reward of two hundred dollars is offered for his apprehension. -- Cincinnati Commercial, Monday. [1]

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[May 5, 1859] -

MURDER--$200 REWARD.

JASPER ROUSEY murdered James Oldham, Jr., in the village of Milledgeville, Lincoln county, Ky., on the 1st of May, and made his escape. He is about 27 or 28 years of age; his hair light and rather sandy; his voice of a feminine tone; is a little lame; about 5 feet 10 inches high; is considerably pigeon-toed; weighs about 180 pounds; has a down countenance, and a keen black eye.

A reward of Two Hundred Dollars will be paid for his apprehension and confinement so that we may get him.

THOMAS W. NAPIER,
Judge of Lincoln county.
JAMES OLDHAM. [2]

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[May 16, 1859] -

MURDER.

$200 REWARD.

JASPER ROUSEY murdered James Oldham, Jr., in the village of Milledgeville, Lincoln county, Ky., on the 1st of May, and made his escape. He is about 27 or 28 years of age; his hair rather light and sandy, his voice of a feminine tone; is a little lame, about 5 feet 10 inches high; is considerable pigeon-toed; weighs about 180 lbs; has a down countenance; one of his eyes is black and the other blue, and one a little larger than the other.

A reward of Two Hundred Dollars will be paid for his apprehension and confinement so that we get him.

THOS. W. NAPIER,
Judge of Lincoln Co.
JAMES OLDHAM.

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$200 ADDITIONAL REWARD.

In addition to the above reward, $200 has been raised by the undersigned, citizens of Milledgeville, and will be paid for the apprehension of said Rousey, so confined that we can get him.

ISAAC GIBSON,
JAS. W. MCBRIDGE,
G. D. NAVE[?].

MILLEDGEVILLE, May 18, 1859.

Lou. Courier copy 1 time daily and 8 times weekly, Lexington Observer and Lebanon Kentuckian copy 8 times weekly and send accounts to this office. -- Dan. Tribune. [3]



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[July 11, 1859] -

Mob Law in Lincoln County--Murderer Arrested and Hung.

We learn that a man named Jasper Rouzy was hung by a mob, near Stanford, Lincoln county, on Saturday morning last. Rouzy was a man of desperate character, and had in May last shot James Oldham, in Milledgeville, Lincoln county. Although a heavy reward was offered for his apprehension, he remained at large until last Monday, when he was arrested at Bradfordsville, Marion county, and immediately conveyed to Stanford and lodged in jail. It is said that when arrested he desired to be killed on the spot, as he knew he would be hung if carried to Stanford.

On Saturday morning, about two o'clock, a mob of nearly one hundred persons collected around the jail, made an attempt upon it, and seized the prisoner. They then conveyed him a short distance into the woods and hung him on a tree. -- Before his execution he desired that his body might be given to his wife.

Whilst at large in Marion county, Rouzy committed numerous petty outrages, and was attempting to perpetuate a theft when finally arrested. -- He has at last paid the forfeit of his crimes by an ignominious and terrible death. [4]



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[July 15, 1859] -

From the Louisville Democrat, July 10. 

In May last Jasper Rouzy shot James Oldham in Milledgeville, Lincoln county, and immediately fled. He located himself in a remote corner of Marion county, and, although the Executive of the State offered a reward of $400 for his apprehension, every one was fearful of attempting to make the arrest, such was his desperate character and so thoroughly was he armed. While in Marion he was accustomed to committing depredation after depredation of the most serious nature. He would go to the houses of persons and demand their guns, threatening to blow out their brains in case of refusal--so that he was enabled for form quite an arsenal.

On last Monday he went to Bradfordsville, and, encountering a gentlemen, he seized his gold watch, and placing it in his pocket said: "What will you do about it?" Just at this juncture a small man seized him from behind and pinioned his arms so closely that a number of persons were enabled to come up and assist in handcuffing the prisoner. He was then taken to Lebanon. When leaving the latter place he expressed a desire that he might be killed there, as he was sure if he returned to Stanford he would be hung.

Arriving at Stanford, the county seat of Lincoln, he was placed in jail. Yesterday (Saturday) morning, about half-past two o'clock, a mob of some eighty persons attacked the prison, made a forcible entrance, and carried off the prisoner. They proceeded a short distance, and then informed Rouzy of their intention. He only requested that his body should be given to his wife and that it remain in peace, as he trusted his soul would. The mob then hung him upon a tree and left the wretched man suspended between the heavens and the earth. He was not discovered until after daylight.

Rouzy had for a long time been a vicious, ungovernable person, and was a perfect terror to the neighborhoods of Milledgeville and Huntsville. [5]




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[July 1859] -

Jasper Rouzer/Rouser, 28 year-old white married male listed as hung by mob on the 1860 U.S. Census Mortality Schedule, Kentucky, Lincoln County, page 4. [6]



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[September 27, 1859] -

Indictment of Twenty-Nine of the Rouzy Mob in Lincoln County. -- We hear that the Grand Jury for the county of Lincoln has, under instructions from Judge Bramlette, found true bills for murder against twenty-nine of the men who, in May last, took Rouzy from the Lincoln county jail and hung him. [7]




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[1] Excerpt from Column 6. The Louisville Daily Courier, Louisville, KY. May 4, 1859. Page 1. Newspapers.com.

[2] Excerpt from Column 3. The Louisville Daily Courier, Louisville, KY. May 5, 1859. Page 2. Newspapers.com.

[3] Excerpt from Column 3. The Louisville Daily Courier, Louisville, KY. May 16, 1859. Page 3. Newspapers.com.

[4] "Mob Law in Lincoln County." The Louisville Daily Courier, Louisville, KY. July 11, 1859. Page 1. Newspapers.com.

[5] Excerpt from "Lynch Law in Illinois and Kentucky." Detroit Free Press, Detroit, MI. July 15, 1859. Page 4. Newspapers.com.

[6] 1860 Census Mortality Schedule for Lincoln County, Page 4.

[7] Excerpt from Column 5. The Louisville Daily Courier, Louisville, KY. September 27, 1859. Page 1. Newspapers.com.


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